Nobody was hurt, but at least seven students and one teacher were arrested in the rampage Thursday morning, Bernalillo County sheriff's spokeswoman Ronni Sparks said.

School was forced to close at noon.

"The bad kids went crazy," Rio Grande junior Renee Montoya said.

luod"This is a major disturbance," Sparks said but added it was not a riot.

Said freshman Dominic Dimas, 15: "It started out as a walkout, then it just got crazy."

The protest began peacefully at 8:30 a.m. but got out of hand after students left campus.

Sparks said school officials estimated that as many as 500 students walked out, but many returned to class when ordered.

District spokeswoman Liz Shipley said an investigation is under way to determine who was responsible.

Witnesses said about 50 students ran past a blockade of deputies' and school district police cars, however, some throwing rocks and smashing windows.

A fence was knocked down.

Sparks said beer and soft drinks were taken from the nearby Allsup's convenience store, and the front window and display case were damaged as students forced their way inside.

uingennilurrsetere"Some of the people were vandalizing homes along the street," Sparks said.

About 40 police officers and sheriff's deputies were called in to quell the disturbance, Sparks said, and three sheriff's patrol cars were damaged.

The protest began when an unauthorized voice came over the campus loudspeaker system, saying: "Students, it's time."

Alan Baros, 16, said the voice sounded like that of "a kid." Others said it could have been an adult or a student, male or female.

Jim Dudley, Rio Grande's teacher union representative, said he knew of no teacher involvement in spurring the protest.

"I could not imagine a situation in which teachers would initiate that behavior," said Don Whatley, president of the Albuquerque Federation of Teachers.

He said the union is grateful for student support but abhors the outcome.

kpreuhsuanopoimnptlurbStudents said the Student Senate had planned a peaceful sit-in in the gym to protest the Albuquerque district's unwillingness to give teachers a 9 percent pay raise the Legislature ordered for teachers statewide.